A 200 metres athlete has set off on her first Olympic adventure to represent Great Britain in Rio.

Jodie Williams, 22, who grew up in Welwyn but lives in St Albans, found out she would be joining the GB team in July and will be running the Women’s 200m in the Rio Olympic Games.

On Tuesday (2) she boarded a plane to Brazil after years of setting her sight on the Olympic games.

Jodie posted a picture to her Facebook page of her eight-years-old self after competing in her first ever race.

She wrote: “I won the 100 by 20 metres and decided in that moment that I was going to run in the Olympics. I told my mum and she laughed thinking I was just little kid with crazy dreams and said it was going to take a lot of hard work to get there.

Jodie Williams training in St Albans

“Well she was right, it did take a lot of hard work. It took pain. It took tears. It took high and lows. It took a missed opportunity and a whole lot of heartbreak.

“However I can now officially say when people ask me “oh are you going to the Olympics then?” that yes, yes I am going to the Olympics. I have achieved my childhood dreams. I am so thankful to everyone who has got me here,”

As an 18 year old, Jodie originally had her sights set on competing in the 100 metres at London 2012.

Speaking to The Herts Advertiser at the time, she said: “I’m probably aiming more towards the 100m, just because it’s always been my childhood dream to compete in the 100m and I thought what better time to do it than in front of a home crowd.”

Unfortunately Jodie didn’t make the cut, but has gone on to have many other successes, which include winning a silver medal for the 200m in the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

She said: “It was amazing, it was my first professional medal. It was my first multi sport event too, so it was really great getting to spend time with people from different sports.

“The whole atmosphere was incredible. It was one of the best moments of my life.”